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SWANSEA — On Father's Day about a week and a half ago, James Lamonde watched the U.S. Open golf tournament with his daughter, Aislinn in their Swansea home.

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By GEORGE AUSTIN

southcoasttoday.com

By GEORGE AUSTIN

Posted Jun. 26, 2013 at 10:36 AM

By GEORGE AUSTIN

Posted Jun. 26, 2013 at 10:36 AM

» Social News

SWANSEA — On Father's Day about a week and a half ago, James Lamonde watched the U.S. Open golf tournament with his daughter, Aislinn in their Swansea home.

"That's the best gift she could give to dad, was watching sports with him," said Maura Lamonde, who is Aislinn's mother and the wife of James.

During the past year, Jim had given a very big gift to his daughter. He donated a kidney so that she could have the transplant she needed.

When Aislinn was seven months old, she was diagnosed with congenital kidney disease. Both of her kidneys were tiny and barely functioning.

Since that time, Aislinn, who was in eighth grade at Somerset Middle School this year, has been on medications that kept her healthy and stable. But her parents knew that sometime in the future, she was probably going to need a kidney transplant.

In 2011, doctors told the Lamondes to start preparing for a transplant. They had known for such a long time that it was a possibility. There was no question they would be making the donation if they matched the kidney of their daughter.

What was more stressful was going through the testing to see if they matched, Jim said. Maura said it is common for children with kidney disease to have problems in their teenage years.

Aislinn's kidneys were starting to fail, so in January of 2012, the Lamondes started the process to find a donor match. Fortunately for Aislinn, in March of last year, doctors found that both of her parents and her two older brothers, Sean, 22, and Wyatt, 25, were matches. Jim was the closest match, so it was decided he would be the donor.

Both Jim and Aislinn had to go through rigorous testing from that point on to make sure they were medically fine to have the transplant done. Jim said that he was afraid something would go wrong medically during the testing process and he would not be able to be the donor. The next closest match to Aislinn was from her brother, Sean, so if her father could not have made the donation, the family could have went to him. They were told in early June of last year, around the time of Aislinn's birthday, that the kidney transplant was a go.

Aislinn had renal disease last summer, so the surgery was scheduled for June 30 at Rhode Island Hospital.

"The miracle was when the doctors came out to talk to me when Aislinn's surgery was done and said it was a success," Maura said. "The kidneys started working immediately after they did the attaching and that was great news."

Jim's whole left kidney was taken out by laparoscopy and transplanted into his daughter's right side.

"Technically, she has three kidneys right now because they left the other two inside, but it's the one healthy one that's doing all the work now," Maura said.

After the transplant, Jim and Aislinn recovered together in the same room at Hasbro Children's Hospital. They were the second family to participate in a program where two family members who are a donor and a recipient are allowed to recover in the same hospital room together.

"It was awesome," Jim said.

At around the time when the Lamondes were finishing their transplant, Dan Duquette, the former Boston Red Sox general manager who now has the same position with the Baltimore Orioles, was in the news for donating a kidney to his daughter.

Maura said doctors warned her husband, who has been a very healthy person, that he would be tired and weak for four to five months after the transplant. Jim likes to golf. He went back to the Somerset Middle School, where he teaches mathematics to special education students and coaches the baseball team, in September intending to work full time, even though doctors did not want him to. After a few days, he found out they were right. He worked part-time until October when he went back to his full time schedule.

"It wasn't until November that he felt like himself again," Maura said.

But Jim said that School Superintendent Richard Medeiros was "phenomenal" with giving him flexibility at work when he was going through the transplant with his daughter and recovering from the surgery.

"He's just like 'family first,'" Jim said. "He's a great guy."

Maura said her daughter on the other hand, was more mobile and felt better. She saw a big difference in Aislinn after the transplant.

"Her color was beautiful after," Maura said. "She was sore, but she was up and walking two days after surgery."

Maura said Aislinn had "fabulous" doctors and said Hasbro Children's Hospital is an "amazing" hospital. She said the area is very lucky to have that hospital because of the quality of care and because it is so close by that it is not as difficult to go there for all of the followup treatment after the surgery as it would be to go to a Boston hospital. Maura said Aislinn goes for lab work every week and said that eventually will be once a month.

This school year, Aislinn was an eighth grade student at Somerset Middle School where she is allowed to go because her father works there. Aislinn was only able to go to the school for two weeks in April. For the rest of the school year, she was home tutored by middle school teacher Jill Dyl.

On Mother's Day, Aislinn got sick and was diagnosed with Epstein-Barr virus. She has been dealing with that virus for eight weeks and her mother said she is "quite well" now but is still getting over the virus.

"The kidney is perfect," Maura said. "Even though she's got the virus and she's still battling that, the kidney is perfect."

Aislinn has been on a regimented diet since she was seven months old. She has to limit the amount of potassium, calcium and dairy products she eats. She can't drink soda.

The Make A Wish Foundation, which grants wishes to children with chronic illnesses, is providing a vacation to Maui, Hawaii for Aislinn and her family. The vacation has been delayed because doctors did not think she was in good enough condition to go, but the family hopes to make the trip this summer.

"I think she's always been intrigued by Hawaii," Maura said of her daughter.

Maura said teachers at Somerset Middle School have been very supportive of her daughter and gave her an American Express gift card to bring to Hawaii.

Aislinn loves to read, likes to listen to music from Michael Buble and Harry Connick, Jr., watching the Bruins and Red Sox with her father and also going to the baseball games he coaches for the Somerset Middle School team. Maura said the players on the team have been terrific with her daughter.

"That has kept her connected socially," Maura said. "She has a best friend, Hannah, who calls her everyday, so she stays in the loop."

During the 2012 baseball season, Jim was going through the testing for the kidney transplant and also dealing with his father being sick.

"Last year, coaching baseball, was tough," Jim said. "I do give 100 percent to baseball and last year, it was difficult because so much was going on."

Aislinn was able to go to the eighth grade dance at the middle school recently. After her transplant, she was not able to go to the mall or be near large crowds or people with colds.

But Maura said Aislinn is hoping to start school at Somerset Berkley Regional High School in September.

Maura is a part-time fitness instructor but spends 90 percent of her time with her daughter. She stresses the importance of organ donation and at 16 years old, long before she and Jim had Aislinn, she had notified the Massachusetts Registry of Vehicles to put on her driver's license that she would be an organ donor. She said it is important for people to be organ donors because there are so many people out there who need them.

"We are very blessed that Jim is able to come through with it, but there are a lot of families who hope and rely on strangers to donate," Maura said.